As attorney Bill Hanson continues his interrogation of Pima County Supervisor Mike Boyd, we learn that Mike thinks political patronage might be a bad idea, if he's not the one patronizing.
Q: What was your intention when you told the audience that those departments had been a dumping ground for political friends, political cronies and political payoffs for years?
BOYD: What was my intention?
Q: Yeah. What did you mean when you said that to them?
BOYD: Based on some conversations that I had with people since I've come to Pima County, I believe that to be an accurate statement.
Q: When you say dumping ground, what do you mean by that term?
BOYD: I think in the general sense, in the past, there had been allegations that certain elected officials had been able to get political allies jobs in the public sector in certain departments.
Q: What connotation did you have in mind when you described those departments as being dumping grounds, a dumping ground for political friends? What do you mean by dumping ground, a dump, a place where worthless people go, a place where trash goes?
BOYD: No.
Q: I mean, what's the metaphor here, dumping ground? You used it.
BOYD: Right.
Q: What did you mean?
BOYD: I meant that it's a place where people, where elected officials, would find places for political allies to get jobs, essentially a political patronage situation.
Q: What's wrong with political patronage?
BOYD: Just didn't come to mind, I guess, at the time.
Q: I mean, what is wrong with political patronage? You just used political patronage and equated it with the idea of a dumping ground.
BOYD: Well, I think that there--depending on who is in power, political patronage is good. And depending on who isn't in power, political patronage is bad. And I think that--I think the connotation that I was alluding to was one where there were people who may not have been my political allies who were finding ways to find some of their political allies employment.
NEXT WEEK: Mikey exposes Ed Moore's bad cooking!
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